Bruneian Ambassador Haini Hashim, who iscurrently Chairman of the ASEAN Committee in Russia for a six-monthtenure, affirmed the major role of ASEAN in building and developing apeaceful and stable Southeast Asian region.
2014marks 10 years since the bloc and Russia signed a Partnership andCooperation Agreement, he said, adding that the two sides havecontinuously developed the mutually-benefited relationship in suchfields as culture, science, education, tourism and economics.
Over the past five years, two-way trade enjoyed a three-foldincrease, from 6.8 billion USD in 2009 to nearly 20 billion USD in 2013.Russia’s direct investment in ASEAN rose fourfold, from 140 million USDto 542 million USD.-VNA